1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to bird feeders and relates more particularly to the type of bird feeder which comprises a housing with a hopper carried by the housing for receipt of bird food, and a hanger for attaching the housing to a support for the bird feeder, such as a hook, a tree limb, or the like. Commonly, the hopper for bird feeders of this type comprise a cylindrical transparent plastic tube with a multiplicity of feed ports or openings intermediate the top and bottom portions of the tube. Oftentimes, the housing is a wire cage surrounding the hopper to minimize access to the feed port by squirrels and other small animals that tend to frighten off birds, quickly deplete the supply of bird food, and even destroy the hopper to access the bird food.
The wire cage may be provided with a metal base or tray and a metal cap or cover to complete the housing, and a wire loop or the like may be attached to the cover for supporting the bird feeder in use. The cover may be removable to enable access to the hopper for refilling and/or cleaning the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Commercially available bird feeders of this type have several disadvantages. First, in order to refill and/or clean the hopper, it is necessary to remove the entire bird feeder from its support. When the hopper has been refilled, the bird feeder may be quite heavy, such that rehanging the same, particularly from a tree limb or other support with limited access, is burdensome, especially for small adults or children. Further, while the plastic hopper may be removable from the housing for cleaning, this too requires displacing the entire bird feeder. Moreover, removing the hopper from the cage and replacing the same is difficult and time consuming with prior art bird feeders and, in some instances, requires extraneous tools such as screw drivers or the like.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a bird feeder which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages in a simple and inexpensive manner. More specifically, the instant invention is directed to a bird feeder wherein the hopper is removable from the housing to refill and/or clean the hopper without requiring the hanger to be removed from its support.
A further object of this invention is the provision of a bird feeder wherein the principal portions of the housing, most preferably a wire cage, and its associated cover and hanger, are removably secured to the base, with the hopper carried by the base inside the cage for removal from the cage with the base. In this manner, the hanger carrying the cover and wire cage can remain on its support, with the hopper being removed from the bottom of the wire cage to be refilled apart from the wire cage. Once the hopper has been refilled, it can be slid back into the cage from the bottom, and the base re-attached to the cage to complete the assembly. This avoids the need to disengage the hanger from its support for refilling and/or cleaning of the hopper, and then re-engaging the same after filling, and also minimizes the height to which the hopper must be lifted after it has been refilled.
Another important object of this invention is to provide a bird feeder of the type described wherein the hopper is removably secured to the base to enable the hopper to be totally separated from all of the housing components for cleaning and/or replacement in the event of damage.
Consistent with the foregoing objects, the instant invention provides a bird feeder wherein the base carrying the hopper is removable from the wire cage without the intervention of extraneous tools and, likewise, the hopper is removable from the base in the same manner. In the preferred embodiments, bayonet connections or the like are provided between the wire cage and the base and between the bottom of the hopper and the base so that separation and reconnection can be easily and quickly effected.
A still further object of this invention is the provision of a unique connection between the base and the wire cage which, once engaged, effectively locks the base to the wire cage under the influence of gravity.